Glenn Greenwald hit back at Rep. Peter King on Wednesday, accusing the congressman of telling a "blatant lie" and blasting his comments about journalists.
Speaking on Tuesday, King called for legal action against Greenwald for publishing top-secret information about the NSA's domestic surveillance programs. After expressing his initial disbelief on Twitter, Greenwald went on to slam King.
The Guardian columnist tweeted Wednesday:
Only In America can a renowned and devoted terrorism supporter like Peter King be the arbiter of national security and treason.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 12, 2013
He later added:
Just watched the King video; everything he said is based on the blatant *lie that I threatened to disclose names of CIA covert agents
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 12, 2013
In an interview with the Washington Post, Greenwald also denied that he and his source Edward Snowden were revealing information "for the sake of harming the United States.”
Snowden "wanted to trigger a debate and inform people," Greenwald told the Post's Greg Sargent. "Given that he has access to incredible amounts of top secret information, if his intent at all were to harm the U.S., he could have disclosed enormous amounts of info that would have endangered his intentions, and his actions prove that.”
Greenwald's bombshell story about the NSA's secret monitoring of phone records of Verizon customers last week ignited speculation about whether he would be investigated. It came on the heels of the revelation that the DOJ named Fox News reporter James Rosen a "co-conspirator" in a search warrant for his personal email, in another leaks case. The case prompted criticism that journalism was being "criminalized" under the Obama administration.
Attorney General Eric Holder, however, has said that the DOJ will not prosecute journalists for doing their jobs, while others — including Greenwald himself — believe that the chances of prosecution are slim.